Eurozone Business Growth Accelerated in April

Business activity accelerated in the euro area last month, as the dominant service sector in the region ignored renewed lockdown measures and resumed growth, according to a survey on Wednesday that also indicated that companies are facing rising raw material costs.

Europe is facing a third wave of the Coronavirus, which forced some governments to renew the general isolation measures, but most factories remained open and the service sector adapted to the matter.

Therefore, the final reading of the IHS Markit Composite PMI, which is a good indicator of the resilience of the economy, rose to 53.8 last month from 53.2 in March. This is slightly higher than an initial reading of 53.7 and well above the 50 th level between growth and contraction.

The services PMI rose to 50.5 from 49.6, surpassing an initial estimate of 50.3. This came after the manufacturing PMI showed on Monday that factory activity growth increased to a record high in April.

But supply chains have been disrupted by the pandemic, causing prices to rise sharply for manufacturers. The input price index jumped to 64.0 from 61.9, the highest in ten years.